Computer and data security

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Millions more Instagram users were affected by a password security lapse than parent company Facebook acknowledged nearly four weeks ago. The social media giant said in late March that it had inadvertently stored passwords in plain text, making it possible for its thousands of...

FILE- In this Aug. 21, 2018, file photo a Facebook start page is shown on a smartphone in Surfside, Fla. Facebook said Thursday, March 21, 2019, that it stored millions of its users’ passwords in plain text for years. The acknowledgement from the social media giant came after a security researcher posted about the issue online. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook left millions of user passwords readable by its employees for years, the company said Thursday , an acknowledgement it offered after a security researcher posted about the issue online. By storing passwords in readable plain text, Facebook violated fundamental computer...

FILE - In this April 11, 2018, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pauses while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. Zuckerberg said Facebook will start to emphasize new privacy-shielding messaging services, a shift apparently intended to blunt both criticism of the company's data handling and potential antitrust action. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After building a social network that turned into a surveillance system, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he's shifting his company's focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy. Instead of just being the network that connects everyone, Facebook wants...

FILE- In this April 11, 2018, file photo Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pauses while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Zuckerberg laid out a new "privacy-focused" vision for social networking on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook, which grew into a colossus by vacuuming up your information in every possible way and using it to target ads back at you, now says its future lies in privacy-oriented messaging that Facebook itself can't read. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO, announced the shift...

Journalists visit the new cybersecurity center of Chinese tech company Huawei, in Brussels, Tuesday March 5, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei is opening a cybersecurity lab in Brussels, as it tries to win over European Union leaders in a geopolitical battle with the U.S. over allegations its equipment poses a national security risk. (AP Photo/Kelvin Chan)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Chinese tech company Huawei on Tuesday opened a cybersecurity lab in Brussels, the heart of the European Union, as it tries to win over government leaders and fight back U.S. allegations that its equipment poses a national security risk. Company executives inaugurated the Huawei...

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2019, file photo, the logos of Huawei are displayed at its retail shop window reflecting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing. The head of Britain's cybersecurity agency says government oversight of Huawei has proven it can flag up security problems, suggesting he doesn't think the Chinese company needs to be banned from supplying mobile networks. Ciaran Martin, the CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, also said Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 that one of the conditions for maintaining good cybersecurity is having "sustainable diversity" in the telecommunications equipment supplier market. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

LONDON (AP) — Britain can handle the security risks involved with using mobile networks made by China's Huawei, the cybersecurity chief said Wednesday, adding to a growing debate among countries on whether the company should be banned, as the U.S. wants. Ciaran Martin, the CEO of the U.K. National...

In this image made from video, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks in Parliament, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019, in Canberra, Australia. about a cyber breach in the country earlier in the month. A "sophisticated state actor" was behind a cyber attack on the Australian Parliament's computing network that also affected the network used by major political parties, the prime minister said Monday. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A "sophisticated state actor" was behind a cyberattack on the Australian Parliament's computing network that also affected the network used by major political parties, the prime minister said Monday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not identify the state behind what he...

FILE - This March 23, 2018, file photo shows an envelope containing a 2018 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident as part of the nation's only test run of the 2020 Census. The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money.(AP Photo/Michelle R. Smith, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — An internal team at the Census Bureau found that basic personal information collected from more than 100 million Americans during the 2010 head count could be reconstructed from obscured data, but with lots of mistakes, a top agency official disclosed Saturday. The age, gender,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency says officials are working to secure the 2020 presidential election. Christopher Krebs says he's trying to shift focus from what happened in 2016 with Russian interference to what could happen next. He's trying to get...

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's leading cybersecurity agency is investigating a breach of the country's federal parliamentary computing network amid speculation of hacking by a foreign nation. Lawmakers and staff in the capital, Canberra, were made to change their passwords on the system after the...